FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: DAYTONA 500 NOTES
The 64th Annual Daytona 500 is scheduled for this Sunday as the first points race of the Next Gen era takes place at Daytona International Speedway. Ford has won “The Great American Race” a total of 16 times, including last season when Michael McDowell posted the first victory of his Cup Series career, and is coming off Joey Logano’s triumph in the season-opening Clash at the Coliseum.
This Week’s Schedule:
Thursday, February 17 – NASCAR Cup Series Duels, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
Friday, February 18 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, February 19 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 5 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, February 20 – NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500, 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
FORD GOING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAYTONA 500 WIN
As mentioned above, Ford has won the Daytona 600 16 times by 13 different drivers. Michael McDowell’s victory last season was the Blue Oval’s third 500 triumph in the last seven years after Joey Logano won in 2015 and Kurt Busch in 2017. Only three Ford drivers have won the Great American Race more than once. Bill Elliott was the first to do it (1985 and 1987) with Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000) and Matt Kenseth (2009 and 2012) following.
FORD CHANGES IN 2022
There have been a few changes to the Ford Cup Series lineup for 2022. First, Brad Keselowski has gone from driver at Team Penske to driver/co-owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, swapping his familiar No. 2 for No. 6. Austin Cindric has moved up from the NASCAR Xfinity Series and will take over the No. 2 Team Penske Mustang, while fellow Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Harrison Burton moves into the No. 21 Wood Brothers Mustang. A third member of the ROY class is Todd Gilliland, who has moved up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to drive the No. 38 Mustang for Front Row Motorsports. Additionally, Rick Ware Racing will field a pair of Mustangs with Cody Ware running full-time in the No. 51 and a series of different drivers competing in the No. 15.
TINY LUND COMES UP BIG FOR WOOD BROTHERS
Ford won the Daytona 500 for the first time on Feb. 24, 1963 when Tiny Lund took the Wood Brothers to Victory Lane and completed a script that would have made Hollywood envious. Lund didn’t have a ride for the 500, but was at the track watching Marvin Panch test a Maserati when the car went out of control, flipped upside-down and started on fire. Lund, along with four others, rushed to the scene and eventually pulled Panch to safety. Panch, who was the primary driver for the Wood Brothers, was unable to race in the 500 due to his injuries, so the team tabbed Lund as a substitute. Lund defied the odds by winning the race on one set of tires to give Ford and the Wood Brothers their first win in “The Great American Race.”
KENSETH WINS EXPLOSIVE DAYTONA 500
When Ford won the Daytona 500 on Feb. 27, 2012 with Matt Kenseth, it marked his second victory in four years. But while Kenseth will be recognized for becoming the ninth multiple winner of “The Great American Race,” the weekend will forever be remembered for a series of unforeseen events. For the first time in its 54-year history the race had to be postponed until Monday due to rain. As lingering showers persisted the next day, NASCAR officials decided to make it a primetime event for the first time. The race was building to a climax when caution came out on lap 157. During the ensuing caution, something broke on Juan Pablo Montoya’s car and sent it careening into a jet dryer that was working on the track. An explosion ensued and resulted in a red flag that lasted more than two hours as officials repaired the track. There were no major injuries, but the incident resulted in one of the more memorable photos ever taken as driver Brad Keselowski used his cell phone to post a shot from his vantage point on the backstretch. Kenseth eventually held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle on a green-white-checker finish to win.
A CINDERELLA STORY
Ford won the Daytona 500 for the 15th time after Kurt Busch took the checkered flag for Stewart-Haas Racing in its debut event with the manufacturer in 2017. That Cinderella story marked Ford’s fourth Daytona 500 win in a seven-year period, a streak that started with another Disney-type story when Trevor Bayne became the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011. The victory was even more memorable because it came one day after his 20th birthday and in only his second career NASCAR Cup Series start for the Wood Brothers.
LOGANO GIVES FORD FIRST SWEEP OF DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS
Joey Logano survived an intense final 10 laps, including a green-white-checkered finish, to give Ford a sweep of Daytona Speedweeks by winning the 57th running of the Daytona 500. The win came on the heels of Tyler Reddick winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Ryan Reed taking the checkered flag for the first time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series event. It also capped an undefeated month of racing at Daytona for Ford, which also won the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours. In the end, Logano used a push from Clint Bowyer to get in front of the pack, but when caution came out with three laps to go for an accident involving Justin Allgaier, the field bunch back up for the deciding restart. As the leader, Logano opted for the outside line and that proved to be the right decision as he got ahead of Denny Hamlin on the inside and stayed in front until the caution came out on the final lap to officially end the race.
FORD’S DAYTONA 500 WINNERS
1963 – Tiny Lund (Wood Brothers)
1965 – Fred Lorenzen (Holman-Moody)
1967 – Mario Andretti (Holman-Moody)
1969 – LeeRoy Yarbrough (Junior Johnson)
1978 – Bobby Allison (Bud Moore)
1985 – Bill Elliott (Harry Melling)
1987 – Bill Elliott (Harry Melling)
1992 – Davey Allison (Robert Yates)
1996 – Dale Jarrett (Robert Yates)
2000 – Dale Jarrett (Robert Yates)
2009 – Matt Kenseth (Jack Roush)
2011 – Trevor Bayne (Wood Brothers)
2012 – Matt Kenseth (Jack Roush)
2015 – Joey Logano (Roger Penske)
2017 – Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas)
2021 – Michael McDowell (Front Row)
